Random musings: Glimpses of the blindingly obvious.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has decided to limit the amount per hour they’re willing to pay outside counsel to $250.00 per hour. Previously, they’d paid billing rates as high as $450.00 per hour. So when the County caps fees for private attorneys, isn’t that a little like hiding the cookie jar after the kids have eaten all the cookies?

In fiscal 2009, Maricopa County paid $13.5 million in fees to outside law firms. Needless to say, the high-end outside firm lawyers will shed a few crocodile tears over the fee reduction but doubtless they’ll not turn down work at the reduced rate. There are plenty of other hungry lawyers in the swamp.

From the news item, the following glimpse of the blindingly obvious, “It’s ridiculous, the amount of legal bills we’ve had,” Supervisor Max Wilson said. “The cost of legal fees was just going out of sight. People weren’t being very responsible for how much they were paying because it wasn’t being paid for out of their pocket – it was being paid for by the people of Maricopa County. (The attorneys) will just run you right out of business.”

Blindingly Obvious Item No. 2.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer met with local travel industry bigwigs to discuss what to do about the post SB 1070 boycott ballyhoo. I imagine such meetings are useful because hands collectively wrung are probably preferable to playing pocket pool by yourself.

From all reports, the Arizona convention and vacation tourism promoters were caught off-guard by the black eye, bad press and boycott-Arizona brouhaha following the governor’s signing of SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial anti-illegal immigrant law. So it seems was the governor. And so the Governor is out to rebrand Arizona, by working with the tourism folks to reposition Arizona not as the Mississippi of the West.

So state leaders that caught so much of an economic and public relations backlash back in 1986 when Arizona Lawmakers Rejected the King Holiday were caught by surprise now by the post SB 1070 fallout? As every employee and worker-bee knows, just because you’re in charge doesn’t make you smart or prescient. Governor Brewer said the folks calling for boycotts are falling for “mistruths.” Does that word also mean that like another famous wordsmith, she “misunderestimated” the backlash?